Thirty years on, CPJ gathers lessons and looks forward

Journalists
rarely report on themselves. But in 1981, when two of them heard about a Paraguayan
reporter who had been arrested and was facing a potential prison term simply
for reporting the news, they were convinced that it was time to act. It was this
desire to help a colleague under threat that was the seed that spawned the
Committee to Protect Journalists. Since then, CPJ has grown to a fully staffed
organization advocating globally for press freedom.

To
launch our 30th anniversary celebration, CPJ will dedicate its
archives--a comprehensive collection of documents representing 30 years of
research, reporting, and activism in support of a free press worldwide--to
Columbia University Libraries' Center for Human Rights Documentation and
Research.

The
dedication will be marked by two
public panel discussions on March 4 at Columbia
University's Kellogg Conference Center, School of International and Public
Affairs. "Looking
Back: Thirty Years of Covering War" examines how
risks faced by journalists have changed from when CPJ was founded during
conflicts in Central America, to today's less clearly defined conflict
situations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and beyond, where vehicles marked "Press" are not necessarily the best way for journalists to ensure they are not a target.

Panelists
will explore an important question: How does the way journalists operate in
conflict zones affect the ways wars are covered? Moderated by veteran U.S. journalist
Dan Rather, the panel will
include journalist who have covered multiple conflicts: Rajiv
Chandrasekaran of The Washington Post;
Terry
Anderson, formerly with The Associated Press; María Teresa Ronderos
of Colombia's Revista Semana; and
photojournalist Michael Kamber,
currently with The New York Times
Baghdad Bureau.

Our second panel, "Looking Ahead:Social
Media and Revolution" will examine the complex reality of technology that has
facilitated communication and reporting from the frontlines--while also being
appropriated by repressive governments for data mining and surveillance. The
panel of experts, moderated by Slate's Jacob Weisberg, includes Rebecca MacKinnon, co-founder of Global
Voices Online;Sheila Coronel of Columbia University's Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism;
Nazila Fathi, a correspondent formerly in Iran for The New York Times; and Ahmed Shihab-Eldin of Al-Jazeera English.

If you are unable to join us on Friday, a video
of the discussions will be available on the CPJ website
at a later date.

Gypsy Guillén Kaiser is CPJ’s advocacy and communications director. Born in the Dominican Republic and raised in New York, she began her career as a journalist after graduating from New York University.